Two Duke OFs tearing the cover off the ball in the Cape. CF Jimmy Herron and COF Griffin Conine.

Herron is a tremendously well rounded player, but does have limited remaining projection remaining, and will be an older JR after being a draft eligible SO in '17. Easy plus speed on the bases and in CF (with the baseball IQ to make it play up even more), starting to develop his power, and now adding proven wood bat production to his college successes thus far. Should be one of the drafts safest picks while playing a premium position.

I probably like Conine more than I should, but after also showing his ability to translate with wood, I have a feeling I won't be the only one come draft day. I look at him and see shades of Conforto, albeit Conforto comps aren't the easiest because of how different he looks now than he did on his draft day. Still, there are some career arch similarities, and if Conine can take the next step in commanding the strikezone (like Michael did), he becomes a very interesting impact bat.

Two Duke OFs tearing the cover off the ball in the Cape. CF Jimmy Herron and COF Griffin Conine.

Herron is a tremendously well rounded player, but does have limited remaining projection remaining, and will be an older JR after being a draft eligible SO in '17. Easy plus speed on the bases and in CF (with the baseball IQ to make it play up even more), starting to develop his power, and now adding proven wood bat production to his college successes thus far. Should be one of the drafts safest picks while playing a premium position.

I probably like Conine more than I should, but after also showing his ability to translate with wood, I have a feeling I won't be the only one come draft day. I look at him and see shades of Conforto, albeit Conforto comps aren't the easiest because of how different he looks now than he did on his draft day. Still, there are some career arch similarities, and if Conine can take the next step in commanding the strikezone (like Michael did), he becomes a very interesting impact bat.

Roster for the upcoming Under Armour All-American game (towards the bottom of the page).

I wanted to go through and jot down my earliest thoughts on all of these guys, but with plenty of time for hundreds of scouting reports to come out, I figure it can wait. A few general thoughts though.....

-The collection of catching is not only in drastic contrast to last year's thin crop, but it seems downright elite to me.

-Last year's class may end up ten-years ahead of its time, in regards to athleticism. '16 saw a relatively large group of track-star speed, and I don't expect to see as many sub 6.4 times this year. That said, I think you are going to see more all-around players that you feel more confident in getting to the bigs, even if the highest-level of raw tools don't end up matching up.

-No lack of velocity. Maybe a 100+ arm like Greene, Pint, and Kolek appear, maybe they don't.... but there remains plenty of young arms who pitch with polish, and project to do so at 95+.

Finally got to watch the perfect game all-american game. A few thoughts.....

In a class loaded with HS pitching, I'll keep it to three. Ethan Hankins has a 2nd half of his career Roy Halladay look to him IMO. Big kid, builds everything off of what might be the most consistent fastball in the class, and has a cagey gamesmanship approach.

Kumar Rocker is physically imposing in a "maybe not quite as high ceiling as Michael Pineda, but much more likely to reach that ceiling" kinda way.

Carter Stewart. If you guys want a visual of why people are buying into spin-rates, check out the disgusting swings this kids 3500rpm curveball gets. Hard to say an All-American is under the radar, but he might be. He has a lot going for him, but that nuclear curve makes 300 Ks a Big League season seem like a possibility.

Catchers. Will Banfield is the prep gold standard, but I don't think Noah Naylor is far behind. Made some incredibly athletic plays behind the dish.

Infielders. Shortstop is another premium position featuring good depth this year. Jordan Groshans is my favorite and prob the guy I would target with the Mets top pick. Yanked a Homer on a high fastball running in on him during the game. 3B/1B Tristan Casas is a horse and could look like Chris Davis at maturity. Also gotta give props to Nolan Gorman for annihilating a bomb off a tough arm, and Brice Turang for a pro-level AB to lead off the game against Kumar Rocker.

Outfielders. Perhaps this is the area where we see a drop-off from last year, but it's a deep group of athletes. Joe Gray offers the best total package, and Elijah Cabell offers big power to go along with solid tools across the board. Cabrera Weaver is this year's top speedster so far, but Isaiah Thomas gets my pick for top raw tools guy.

At least its a good draft for sucking haha. You got a pure blue-chipper any way you slice it with that first pick, and such a deep draft that you can grab real good arms with both the second and third round selections. Maybe take a couple college bats in four and five, tank 6-10 on senior signs. Then have a good crop of toolsy HS to go after in rounds 11-15.

At least its a good draft for sucking haha. You got a pure blue-chipper any way you slice it with that first pick, and such a deep draft that you can grab real good arms with both the second and third round selections. Maybe take a couple college bats in four and five, tank 6-10 on senior signs. Then have a good crop of toolsy HS to go after in rounds 11-15.

At least its a good draft for sucking haha. You got a pure blue-chipper any way you slice it with that first pick, and such a deep draft that you can grab real good arms with both the second and third round selections. Maybe take a couple college bats in four and five, tank 6-10 on senior signs. Then have a good crop of toolsy HS to go after in rounds 11-15.

Unless we sign Moustakas

I think they would sacrifice their 2nd rd pick if Mous is offered the QO and rejects it.

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